The governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has encouraged Nigerians to maintain hope and not let the country’s current economic woes overcome them.

Instead, he exhorted them to stay upbeat, saying that terrible times pass, but tough individuals persevere because they are able to overcome adversity.

At the 64th anniversary of the nation’s independence, Governor Oborevwori made the request during an interfaith thanksgiving ceremony on Sunday at the Cathedral Church of St. Peters in Asaba.

The governor, who gave heartfelt praise to the nation’s founding fathers, asked Nigerians to maintain their optimism and unity and predicted that the nation will soon enter a new era of prosperity, peace, unity, and advancement.

Oborevwori stated: “It goes without saying that the high expense of living brought on by inflation is the reason for the hunger and hopelessness in the country.

“The anguish that a great number of people are enduring as a result of the continuing budgetary and economic changes is beyond words.

Still, I would want to add that these will also come to pass. There’s an expiration date on every problem, and this one is no different.

Therefore, I implore Deltans and state citizens to persevere. Hard times pass, but tough individuals endure.

“Everyone—leaders and the governed alike—must exercise ingenuity, invention, determination, patience, and resilience in light of the current circumstances. These are the attributes we require to overcome our obstacles and survive in a volatile economic environment.

God commands us to pray, and we must accompany our prayers with the appropriate confession, so we should never give up on praying for Nigeria, no matter what the circumstances. Even if we pray correctly, our prayers are invalidated if we talk incorrectly.

As a result, we ought to quit criticising our nation. We ought to offer up prayers with our tongues for the harmony, peace, and progress of our nation. Destiny is decided by decision. We’ll be shocked by the outcomes once we decide to talk favourably about our nation.

Governor Oborevwori responded, “We have carefully listened to our Bishop and he said something about the quality of jobs; they know that I am ready for those who are not ready to do the right job,” to the Bishop’s praise for the state’s delivery of high-quality projects.

Sheriff will not accept a job offer if you perform a poor job while being generously compensated and paid on time. They are aware that I won’t tolerate it.

“My Lord, you would be interested to know that I called a meeting of Heads of MDAs, Directors, Permanent Secretaries, and Heads of Service last week and told them that there is nothing they need that I have not done,” he emphasised.

In a state where there are over 55,000,000 workers who are paid on a timely basis, contractors are still assigned work, and site engineers assign subcontractors to complete tasks they are supervising. Do you see the difficulties we are having?

“The issues we deal with come not only from the contractors but also from the site engineers who certify improperly completed work.

“If you perform your duties as a Civil Servant and a Site Engineer effectively, the contractors will not be able to obtain certifications for incomplete work.”

“I urge the House of Assembly members to do their oversight work,” begged Oborevwori. I will have access to a hotline in the near future where I can obtain straight public information.

Additionally, I’ve informed the Commissioner of Finance and the Accountant-General that I intend to pay state employees by the 26th of every month, at the latest.

In a sermon titled “In all things, give thanks,” the Anglican Communion’s Bishop of Asaba, Rt. Rev. Kingsley Obuh, had earlier said that although it was difficult to express gratitude given the state of the nation, Nigerians should not give up and should instead give thanks to God because “it is the will of God for all men.”